ADP Jobs Report: Private Sector Added 241,000 Jobs in December

Ahead of this morning’s ADP National Employment Report, economists predicted the addition to private payrolls of 225,000 jobs. The report, which is jointly produced by Moody’s Analytics and payroll processor ADP, showed higher gains than expected — 241,000 jobs in all. In addition, last month‘s payrolls were adjusted upward from 208,000 jobs to 227,000 jobs.

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In terms of industry growth, professional and business services led gains with 69,000 jobs added, followed by trade, transportation, and utilities with 44,000 jobs. Construction added 23,000 jobs and manufacturing added 26,000 jobs.

“Sustained gains in hiring will probably help lay the groundwork for a pickup in wages,” writes Shobhana Chandra at Bloomberg. “Higher earnings, combined with the cheapest fuel costs since 2009, will provide the wherewithal for consumers to increase their spending, which accounts for about 70 percent of the economy.”

The PayScale Index, which forecasts U.S. wage growth based on a predictive model incorporating the Consumer Price Index and unemployment rates, projected a 0.3 growth in wages for the fourth quarter 2014.

Friday’s report from the Labor Department is expected to shows gains of 240,000 jobs across the public and private sectors, according to economists polled by Reuters, after November’s blockbuster report showing the addition of 321,000 jobs.

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Jen Hubley Luckwaldt

Jen Hubley Luckwaldt writes about work-life balance, stress management, and other topics relating to what makes us happy at work. A full-time freelancer, she deals with stress by blurring the lines between life and work to the point where the two spheres are barely separate. The happiest day of her career was when scientists proved that looking at pictures of cute animals makes us more productive.